Justice Rajnesh Oswal takes oath as HC judge

JAMMU: History was created on Thursday when Advocate Rajesh Oswal took oath as a Judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, becoming the first one to do so under the Indian Constitution.
Chief Justice of J&K High Court Gita Mittal administered the oath to Oswal in the central hall of the court complex in Jammu while the oath-taking ceremony was broadcast online due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
All previous judges of the high court had taken oath under the state constitution.
Following the abrogation of Article 370 and reorganisation of the State into two Union Territories, judges have to take oath under the Indian Constitution.
High Court Registrar General Sanjay Dhar read out the Warrant of Appointment issued by the President of India. He also read out the Letter of Authorisation issued by the Lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
The ceremony was attended by some Justices, police chief Dilbag Singh, Advocate General and others.
It is for the first time in the history of Indian Judiciary that the oath ceremony was attended by other Judges of the High Court through video conferencing wherein Judges joined while sitting from their respective residences at Jammu, Chandigarh and Srinagar and the ceremony was simultaneously live streamed through webcast on the internet.
Advocate General, Assistant Solicitor General of India of both the wings of the High Court, President Bar Association, High Court of J&K, Jammu, Secretary Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs UT of J&K also joined the oath ceremony through Video Linkage.
With the appointment of Justice Rajnesh Oswal as Judge of the High Court, the strength of J&K High Court has increased from eight to nine, including Chief Justice Gita Mittal, Justice Rajesh Bindal, Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey, Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, Justice Tashi Rabstan, Justice Sanjeev Kumar Shukla, Justice Sanjay Kumar Gupta and Justice Sindhu Sharma.
The J&K High Court has sanctioned strength of 17 Judges including 13 Permanent Judges and 4 Additional Judges.
The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended as many as five more names for their elevation as the judges of the high court including Advocate Moksha Kazmi Khajuria and Advocate Javed Iqbal Wani, along with Judicial Officers Vinod Chatterji Koul, Sanjay Dhar and Puneet Gupta, the proposals for which are pending with the Union Law Ministry for their approval.
It is pertinent to mention that Justice Rajnesh Oswal was appointed as Judge of Common High Court for the Union territories of J&K and Ladakh on 29th of January 2020 and the authorization for administering oath by Chief Justice to Justice Rajnesh Oswal was received on 1st of April 2020.
Born in Jammu in June 1973, Justice completed his schooling from Sri Ranbir Higher Secondary school and did his graduation from GGM Science College before pursuing LLB from Jammu University
During the practice period he remained Standing Counsels for Crime Branch Jammu, ICICI Bank, United Bank of India, Counsel for High Court Legal Services Authority, High Court of J and K among others.